I was bummed out but now I'm feeling better. Miami has been playing great basketball (and shooting the lights out) and we still only lost by nine and 11 points, respectively, while all logic says that those two losses should've been blowouts. The most important thing is the Celts believe they can turn this around. Here's a quote from Ray Allen:

Quote

"Being down 2-0 doesn't scare any of us, doesn't make us nervous," Allen said. "It's just an opportunity to come out shining."

"I'm not the man I once was, but I'm all the man, once, that I ever was."

When I was little, my dad and his friends used to use that quote all the time and laugh about it as they got older. And I was reminded of it as I watched this series play out.

The Celtics were either tied or had the lead in the final minutes of four of the five games in the series, but in the end they just didn't have enough to sustain it. LeBron and Wade were like a wave...relentless and unceasing. In order to dam the waves, the Celtics needed to play at their absolute peak. They needed to be all of the men that they ONCE were. And, to their credit, each of them reached down and found that man as they could. Pierce had his game 3. Ray had his moments. KG reached into the well and pulled out one vintage, turn-back-the-clock 30/20 effort and then found it again for a quarter in game 4.

But they just couldn't sustain it. Not this year. They could be that man ONCE...they just couldn't be that man consistently. That's where age and injury really seemed to tell the story. My lasting impression from this series comes from the sideline snapshots...Rondo and Jermaine O'Neal laying on the sideline getting treatment on their backs...Shaq in a suit...KG trying to surreptitiously rub his knee without anyone noticing...there are no moral victories, but outside of the expected depression of realizing my team is out, in a lot of ways this year feels cleaner than last year's game 7. The 2010 Celtics, to me, really were as good or better than the 2010 Lakers, so it was tragic that they came up short. But after watching this series, at this time...the 2011 Celtics just weren't as good as the 2011 Heat. And it showed.

So, in line with the concept of this thread, it's time for me to say I was wrong. This year, the pundits were right. John Hollinger was right. Those that weren't willing to look at the numbers the way that I did, weren't willing to come to the same conclusions as I did...they were right. It scalds my gut to say it, but the proof is in the pudding.

The 2011 Celtics were a great team, in my eyes. Had they gotten past the Heat, I remain convinced that there is no other team in the NBA that could have beaten them this year. But, as they say, it is what it is. We had a great run this year, but we weren't the best. Here's hoping that at this time next year, I'm writing a very different message in this space.

"It's not the name on the back that matters; it's the name on the front."

I, too, was wrong. We couldn't find The Switch. I thought we still had it. Miami had a switch and they turned it up to 11. All calmed down, we realize that the Heat was the best team in the series. Injuries and inconsistency (by the refs and by our players) killed any chances we may have had. Hopefully only this time around. Dreams are for free, right?

*Hollinger's prediction:"Boston will be a huge favorite to win the division -- it might be the only team over .500, in fact -- and still has the trump card that it matches up so well with Orlando. Unfortunately, the Celtics are unlikely to get to the point where it's just them and the Magic left standing, and they still have uppity rivals like the Bulls, Bucks and Hawks nipping at their heels. The Celtics' defense and chemistry will keep them near the top, but I'm not seeing enough firepower to provide a repeat of last season's run. At the end of the day, I think they'll be exactly what they were a year ago from November to April. It's the ending that I see changing.

Mild story-change alert: Stephen A. Smith of ESPN is on Mike & Mike radio show (on ESPN), and if I heard correctly he just said that (paraphrase): Most of us pundits picked the Celtics to beat the Heat this year from the beginning, because of the size difference.

Only thing (look at the quoted above): ESPN OVERWHELMINGLY picked Miami as the preseason favorite out of the East. I don't have a prediction posted for Smith (I don't think), but clearly the majority of his ESPN colleagues did NOT pick the Celtics over the Heat coming into this season. The final chapter isn't written, so this isn't gloating yet, I'm just saying...if you're going to change the story, then change it and admit that you're doing it. But don't say that you all knew something all along when in fact most of you were saying the exact opposite...

Got to hand it to Hollinger, though. Between that pre-season prediction (to be fair, he had us winning fewer games than we did) and his series prediction of Heat in 5, he's looking pretty smart right now.

He predicted Heat in 5 with a healthy Rondo.Once Rondos arm went, so did the series.Really not as smart as he would like people to believe.He completely undersold the C's and overrated the Heat.The Heat shot the lights out- which he would never have predicted, and our number one play maker had one arm after the series went 2-1.Hollinger was way off and he'd admit that I think.

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“I told him he was going to be immersed in a basketball culture. I told him he was going to be around people who have won championships, who talk championship and understand championship. Not too many players are blessed with that opportunity to be around that environment" Isiah Thomas to Isaiah Thomas on becoming a Celtic.

Again, folks can opine endlessly that the Celtics were too old and slow this year, but of course, they were never going to be as young and athletic as the Heat. No one EVER claimed that they could or would compete with the Heat in those areas. What we HAD, prior to the trade, was a level of cohesion that the Heat couldn't match. We lost that when The Trade created what amounted to a season re-set, with just a month to go.

It's not hard to figure this out, guys. Have any of you actually played team sports ever? If you have, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. A less athletic team that is more cohesive can defeat a more athletic team. But if you take away that cohesion, well, obviously, then sheer athleticism will win out, most likely. What impresses me about how powerful a team we actually were in 2011 is that, despite The Trade, and despite having no real starting center (JO was great, but come on), we still could have beaten the Heat had they not taken Rondo out.

Celtics need to rebuild. We need another Big Three! The Heat will probably win a title eventually, but they will never be a legendary team. I have been a fan of the Celtics since the Bird/McHale/Parish days. Those were the best.

Again, folks can opine endlessly that the Celtics were too old and slow this year, but of course, they were never going to be as young and athletic as the Heat. No one EVER claimed that they could or would compete with the Heat in those areas. What we HAD, prior to the trade, was a level of cohesion that the Heat couldn't match. We lost that when The Trade created what amounted to a season re-set, with just a month to go.

It's not hard to figure this out, guys. Have any of you actually played team sports ever? If you have, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. A less athletic team that is more cohesive can defeat a more athletic team. But if you take away that cohesion, well, obviously, then sheer athleticism will win out, most likely. What impresses me about how powerful a team we actually were in 2011 is that, despite The Trade, and despite having no real starting center (JO was great, but come on), we still could have beaten the Heat had they not taken Rondo out.

Thank God you stopped talking about the trade.......oops! My bad! Once we come to the conclusion that our beloved Celtics had the deck stacked against them for most of the season (injuries to Perk, Shaq, Quis, JO and Rondo, among others), then we can move forward and realize that Danny and company have a job to do and are always trying to do what is best for the team.

Danny gambled that Perk wasn't going to be "Perk" for the rest of the season, and he was mostly right. He also gambled that with Quis' injury, Jeff Green would be the back up wing the Celtics needed in order to get by Miami (Rondo's injury made that a moot point) and he was mostly wrong. Lastly, he gambled that Shaq and JO could be healthy and ready to go for the playoffs. JO's knee was better, but then he sustained that wrist injury. Shaq came back from his original injury for about 5 minutes and then was essentially gone for the season. You win some, you lose some. But, the injury to Rondo guaranteed there wouldn't be a banner hung after this season.

If you have, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. A less athletic team that is more cohesive can defeat a more athletic team. But if you take away that cohesion, well, obviously, then sheer athleticism will win out, most likely.

This is not something I agree with. I have seen tremendously athletic and cohesive teams lose to lesser athletic and lesser cohesive teams tons of times.

Athleticism and cohesion doesn't guarantee championships. Talent, leadership and strength of will and determination have a lot to do with it as well.

The 1984 Celtics, 2006 Heat, 2011 Mavericks, 1995 Rockets, and some of the 1960's Celtics weren't the most athletic teams nor would I say they were any more or less cohesive than the teams they beat. They just had transcendent talent, transcendent leadership, and some good old fashioned luck on their side.

Lol. The thread LIVES! Well, if the Celtics do thrive down the stretch, this will be a clear instance in which ZERO of the media and only a small fraction of the Celtics' fans would have seen it coming.

Lol. The thread LIVES! Well, if the Celtics do thrive down the stretch, this will be a clear instance in which ZERO of the media and only a small fraction of the Celtics' fans would have seen it coming.